Women's Notebook: Auriemma, Notre Dame's McBride Have Shared A Huddle

April 05, 2014|By JOHN ALTAVILLA, jaltavilla@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

NASHVILLE — — After competing against him for three years and beating his team more frequently than anyone else in recent history, Notre Dame's Kayla McBride was somewhat at a loss in the huddle at USA Basketball camp listening to national coach Geno Auriemma.

"I was definitely different," McBride said Saturday. "It was a little weird knowing I go to Notre Dame. But it was a great opportunity. He is the Olympic coach for a reason. Being able to learn some things from him was a great opportunity for me to have."

Auriemma loved what he saw from McBride during the brief weekend the team met in Las Vegas last October. It was the same camp that UConn's Breanna Stewart, Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis attended.

"Going into the camp, Kayla McBride was perhaps just another college player invited," Auriemma said. "I don't think a lot of people paid as much attention to her last year because most of it was naturally all on Skylar Diggins.

"But once she got to camp and people began to see what she can do, well, it didn't surprise me, but I think it surprised a lot of others. I would venture to say other than Stewie and Elena Delle Donne, she might have been the most impressive player there, at least for a day or two."

McBride, certain be a first-round WNBA draft pick next week, was thrilled to know Auriemma thought so highly of her.

"It's certainly a good feeling to have," McBride said. "He pushes his players. I like that. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to be coached by him. And it's humbling to know what he thinks of me."

Jimmy V Game

ESPN has announced that next season's regular season meeting between UConn and Notre Dame in South Bend on Dec. 6 will its featured Jimmy V Women's Classic. The game will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.

The Huskies played at Duke in this season's Classic and were also a part of the games in 2011 and 2012.

Irish coach Muffet McGraw, like Auriemma, has spent the season listening to questions about being undefeated. She says she has relied on her senior leadership to help her deal with any pressure.

"It's been easy," McGraw said. "That's probably the easiest thing we've been able to do this year is take it one game at a time. The seniors have done a great job. The captains, the leaders, they've done a great job making sure nobody's looking ahead. They set the tone.

"I mean, we're in the Final Four. We've been here before. But we still know we have a lot of work to do. So I think for us we know we can't get to a national championship until you win the first game. So I think it's really easy to stay focused. I don't think there's any distraction there at all."

Herbst On AAC

UConn President Susan Herbst reiterated that UConn is happy with its affiliation with the American Athletic Conference and is looking forward to growing with it.

"Listen, there was a lot of media hysteria about conference realignment. Our donors, supporters and alumni are committed to UConn," Herbst said. "It's never been an obsession among them [to get out of the American] because they realize so much of it is out of our control that we can't change.

"Every once in a while, the topic comes up, and I got a fair amount of mail about conference realignment. But I think the worry and angst was going to be there until we began to compete within the American.

"Now I think people are putting it aside; it is what it is. UConn plays a vital role in the conference and it's fun for Warde Manuel and I to help shape and grow the conference."